Let's Move Blog

Ed. Note: This is a cross post from the blog of fitness.gov. You can find the original post here.
As the buzzer sounds on another sizzling summer, kids across America are getting back in the game and gearing up for another school year. Now, instead of days filled with swimming, biking, climbing trees and playing, most kids will spend six to seven hours each day within school walls.
The primary focus of schools is to help students learn and develop foundational skills and knowledge to succeed in life. But with the increasing demands and pressures of improving standardized test scores and grade point averages are we defeating these goals by eliminating or significantly restricting the time students are physically active throughout the school day?

President Barack Obama has proclaimed September 2014 as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, encouraging Americans to help our youth lead more physically active lifestyles and make healthier food choices.

Summer is winding down, and kids across the country have started to head back to school. Over the course of the school year, kids will be spending the majority of their days in school, which provides an important opportunity to ensure that schools foster healthy environments for kids to learn and grow. Offering healthy meal and snack options and ample opportunities for physical activity are critical to their success in school and in life. Quality, nutritious foods help to fuel our performance in anything we do.

Last September, First Lady Michelle Obama joined the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to launch the Drink Up campaign, encouraging everyone to make an easy choice to improve their health and well-being every day: drink more water.

It’s been a busy summer, and we hope you had the opportunity to enjoy some time outside with family and friends getting active and trying new recipes during summer picnics and events. As the summer winds down, we are calling a challenge for everyone to share their favorite summer salad with us. With so many colorful fruits and vegetables in season this time of year that make for nutritious and delicious salad creations, we want to see what everyone’s been making. Whether you pick your fruits and vegetables straight from your backyard garden, a local farmers market, or your neighborhood store, we're asking you to share your favorite summer salad recipe and photo on Twitter and Instagram using #SummerSalad.

Posted by Kathleen FioRito, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Food and Nutrition Service & Doreen Simonds, Waterford (MI) Public Schools on August 22, 2014

Doreen Simonds is the Nutrition and Purchasing Services Director for the Waterford Public Schools in Waterford, Michigan. Doreen has been a strong voice for healthier school meals and creative nutrition education strategies. Under her leadership, thirteen of Waterford’s twenty schools have won USDA HealthierUS School Challenge awards. I’d like to share Doreen’s blog below on the importance of teamwork in moving forward on children’s health and nutrition.

Posted by Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services on August 19, 2014

Ed. Note: This is a cross post from the blog of usda.gov. You can find the original post here.
In today’s installment of our Cafeteria Stories series, we highlight the innovative and successful school nutrition strategies that a Tennessee school district is using to positively impact the health of our next generation. I believe very strongly in the power of student engagement, and the Jackson-Madison County School District is expertly tapping into that resource. By empowering students and integrating them into the program structure, they have altered food culture and made the healthy choice the desirable choice within and outside of the school walls. We thank them for sharing their story!

Posted by Kevin Concannon, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services on August 15, 2014

Ed. Note: This is a cross post from the blog of usda.gov. You can find the original post here.
Several recent media reports have misrepresented how the bi-partisan Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act’s Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards will impact school fundraisers like bake sales.

For me, success in implementing the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, in large part has been about communication and leadership. It’s not just what you present to people, it’s the way you present it and the way you lead them through change.
In the fall of 2012, when the rules were first being implemented, I was the Manager of Nutrition Services for Cañon City Schools in Cañon City, Colorado. Initially, there was a lot of anxiety among the staff about how we were going to be able to meet the new requirements.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens does a lot of work with area schools. From conducting field trips to teacher trainings to the Fairchild Challenge at Phipps, we reach a lot of students and educators each year. Let’s Move!

Posted by Mary Murphy, The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast on August 8, 2014

A generation ago, kids were outside playing in their yards, in their neighborhoods, and on the local playgrounds. Physical activity was limitless as kids played freeze tag, ran around in the sprinklers, and swam in the pool until the street lights came on, when it was time to go home. Imagination is what inspired “play.”

Posted by Tracy Wiedt, Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties Program Manager, National League of Cities on August 5, 2014

Two years ago, First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the five goals of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC). Since then, local elected officials from nearly 450 cities, towns and counties of varying sizes and locations—including Anchorage, Alaska; Linn County, Iowa; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and everywhere in between—have committed to pursuing these five LMCTC goals.

It’s official! U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack proclaimed August 3-9, 2014 as National Farmers Market Week. This year marks the 15th Annual National Farmers Market Week recognizing the important role that farmers markets play in the agricultural and food economy.